Situ Yao picked up the book again and began to read it carefully.
Su Mengyan stared at his profile for a while, closed her eyes and thought, in the original work, they encountered the vicious bandits when they passed by Luohe Mountain.
The hero had very few personal guards with him, and the criminals were cunning, which led to them all being captured. In the end, it was Cui Mixue who came up with a clever plan to save the people. During the fight, she even took a knife for Situ Yao, making a life-or-death decision.
After this incident, their relationship progressed by leaps and bounds, and no one could come between them.
Su Mengyan was very conflicted. If she told them that there were bandits in Luohe Mountain, she could naturally avoid a fierce battle.
But Situ Yao will definitely ask, how should she answer then?
And if she told it, the plot would deviate, the emotional connection between the hero and heroine would be gone, and the book would not be able to reach the ending. Could she still go back then?
Su Mengyan was very conflicted. She didn't want anyone to get hurt, and it could be avoided as long as she said it.
"Are you worried about something?" Situ Yao put down his book, lowered his head and stared at her face and asked, "If you have something on your mind, you can just say it."
"Apart from Luohe Mountain, do we have any other way to return to the capital?" Su Mengyan asked.
"Yes, but you have to take a detour." Situ Yao's suspicious eyes rested on her, "Why do you ask this?"
"Nothing." Su Mengyan avoided his eyes and said casually, "I heard from others that there is a group of vicious bandits in Luohe Mountain. I'm afraid that if we encounter them, someone will get hurt."
"Who told you that?" Situ Yao was suspicious and would never believe her easily.
Su Mengyan thought that this place was not far from Chu City, so she pulled someone out and said, "Brother Xu said that he had seen them when he was traveling before."
"If we take a detour, we won't be able to return to the capital for a few days." Situ Yao frowned, "Are you sure it's true?"
"Brother Xu said that the group he saw with his own eyes robbed and killed people." Su Mengyan looked outside and asked, "Sir, how many guards did we bring with us?"
"Forget it, I'll trust you for now." Situ Yao hesitated for a long time, but finally believed what she said, "When we get to Heyang City, have the governor lead his troops to Luohe Mountain to investigate."
"It's up to you, sir." Su Mengyan continued to close her eyes and pretend to be asleep.
She ruined the original plot and let them survive, and she didn't know whether it was right or wrong. Su Mengyan was not sure, but she didn't want to see Situ Yao's people die.
She remembered that in the original work, none of Situ Yao's personal guards survived, as they were all killed by bandits.
Su Mengyan was holding the cloak. When she heard Situ Yao go outside to give instructions, the carriage quickly turned around and headed in another direction.
Only Cui Mixue, who was sitting in the carriage, had a grim expression on her face. She remembered that in her previous life, it was in Luohe Mountain that she saved Situ Yao, and that was why he looked at her with new eyes.
She was just waiting for the team to reach Luohe Mountain to show off her skills. After all, she had already used the same method once, and this time, Cui Mixue was very confident that she could rescue Situ Yao, and she thought that she might even be able to get rid of the annoying Su Mengyan.
But why didn’t they go here for no reason? What went wrong?
Cui Mixue couldn't understand why Situ Yao would change his mind for no reason and would rather take a detour than go to Luohe Mountain.
She took advantage of the fact that the carriage had not yet left and ran to the outside of Su Mengyan's carriage, "Sir."
"It's Miss Cui." Su Mengyan opened her eyes and let her in.
Cui Mixue didn't even glance at Su Mengyan, and directly asked Situ Yao, "Why did you ask us to turn around?"
"What do you want to say?" Situ Yao did not answer her.
"I'm worried that if we return to the capital a few days later, His Majesty will be dissatisfied with you." Cui Mixue looked at Situ Yao with all her heart. "It's not worth it if you get punished by His Majesty just for enjoying the scenery along the way."
"Get out!" Situ Yao suddenly got angry, and even Cui Mixue didn't expect him to lower his status in an instant. Tears were hanging in the corners of his eyes, and he looked pitiful. "What did I say wrong? Please punish me, sir."
Su Mengyan sighed in her heart. It was obvious that Cui Mixue in the original work was smart and good at guessing other people's thoughts.
Why doesn’t Cui Mixue know what Situ Yao hates now? The words she just said are what he dislikes the most, but she insists on touching his reverse scale.
"Get out!" Situ Yao sneered, "Don't make me say it a third time!"
Cui Mixue was also afraid of his anger. She glared at Su Mengyan in the corner and went downstairs with red eyes.
After avoiding Luohe Mountain, their journey was smooth. It was not until three days later that they arrived at Heyang City.
Although the delay was a little longer, no bandits were encountered and no one died. Su Mengyan felt that it was worth it to ride on the carriage for a few more days.
The group settled down at the inn, and Situ Yao asked Qingfeng to take a token to find the prefect of Heyang City.
If there really were bandits in Luohe Mountain, he couldn't just sit there and do nothing.
Su Mengyan saw that he was still sitting in the inn and asked curiously, "Sir, don't you need to go?"
"The prefect of Heyang City is similar to Lord Xu. Both are honest and good officials. With Qingfeng's instructions and the people from the prefect's office, it will be no problem to leave the bandits in Luohe Mountain to him." Situ Yao didn't want to show up to avoid a lot of trouble.
However, just because he didn't want to, it didn't mean that the governor of Heyang City wouldn't come to the inn in person.
When the governor of Heyang City learned of the plague in Chu City, he guessed that the prince would pass by here on his way back to the capital, and he had already sent people to keep an eye on him.
He didn't expect someone to arrive so soon and throw him a hot potato. After seeing Qingfeng's token, he followed him to the inn.
Situ Yao saw the person kneeling on the ground in the private room and frowned, "Lord Luo, please stand up. I am away from home, so please don't be polite."
"Yes." The governor stood upright beside him and said with a bitter face, "How did Your Highness know about the bandits in Luohe Mountain?"
"So this is true?" Situ Yao looked at Su Mengyan strangely.
"You don't know, sir, the bandits from Luohe Mountain have been there since two years ago. I have sent troops there several times, but always returned empty-handed." The prefect had no choice. If he could wipe them out, he would have done it long ago.
"Because merchants are afraid of them, they would rather take a detour than pass through there. Over time, Luohe Mountain has become increasingly deserted, making it easier for bandits to hide and making it increasingly difficult to catch them." The prefect was a civil servant, and he had no way of eradicating the bandits. He could only frequently remind the people to stay away from Luohe Mountain.
"So, Lord Luo has no other options?"
"Your Highness, please assist me in wiping out the bandits in Luohe Mountain and bringing peace to the people." The prefect knelt on the ground, wanting Situ Yao to help.
He frowned and thought for a while, but did not agree immediately.
On their way back to Beijing, if they rashly interfered in local affairs, it would easily cause unnecessary gossip, and Situ Yao was the most impatient to deal with such things.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
